OGUL #39 - Lookout Peak
July 7th, 2023
I woke up for my last night out of the trip, hoping to knock out one more Ogul and get home at a reasonable time. Lookout Peak seemed to fit the bill nicely, it didn’t look too difficult on paper. The road to the Pacific Valley Campground was still snowed in, so I parked right by highway 4. This would add a few miles, but they were all easy flat miles. I was walking by 6:45, and was immediately impressed by how much snow was still there. It seemed that this area was pretty well shaded, causing the snow to linger for quite some time.
Snow conditions near the start
An old Corral and cabin a few miles in
I walked quickly, being slowed down by the large mounds of snow I’d have to go up and down every few hundred feet. There were dry patches of ground mixed in, but they seemed to be the minority. After a mile or so, I passed some old buildings and a corral, and the Pacific Valley Campground not far beyond that. The road went on for several more miles, it was in a precarious state as the snow bridges were starting to get thin, with a lot of water moving underneath. Eventually, the road fizzled out, and the trail started, which seemed to almost immediately cross Pacific Creek.
Pacific Valley Trailhead
The creek was moving pretty well, and fording it was my only choice. I took my shoes and socks off, and endured the frigid waters to get across. On the other side, I used the sleeves of my sun hoodie to dry my feet off as much as possible, and continued west up the trail. From here, the snow got even deeper, making the trail very difficult to follow. The drifts were easily 15 feet deep in some places still, pretty impressive for below 8000 feet in July. After struggling with this for long enough, I decided to ignore all of the trip reports I had read, and cut directly up towards the summit.
Endless snow along the shaded trail
This ended up being a great choice, after a few hundred yards, the forest opened up, which had allowed the sun and wind to dissipate the snow. I was back on solid ground, and the hike was pretty straightforward from there. I went up and up, and soon broke through the last of the trees, following a dried out drainage towards the summit. I crossed one last patch of snow, and was at the base of a talus field below the summit.
Much better conditions upslope from the trail
Just below the summit
After negotiating the talus, the summit was a short ridge walk away. I found the register, and signed my name. The view was pretty spectacular on Lookout Peak, I could see as far north as Desolation Wilderness, and as far south as what looked like Sonora Pass. I hung out for 10-15 minutes before heading back down, still trying to make good time. I had set myself a goal of making it back by 1PM, but realized that I could probably be at my truck by 11AM or so.
Summit Panorama
I more or less followed my route back down at first, but ended up veering more to the north, which saved me a lot of slow movement through the snow down below. This put me back on the trail pretty close to the Pacific Creek crossing, which had picked up a bit since the morning. After that, it was just tedious (but quick) walking through the snowdrifts along the road. It was pretty uneventful, and I made it back to the truck just a few minutes after 11. I sat down and ate another southwestern salad before getting back on the road to see my wife and dog at home.
My less snow filled route down